Residents are forced to erect public lighting themselves

RESIDENTS of one Clonakilty estate without sufficient public lighting have taken to climbing the poles to erect solar lights themselves.

That is the shocking claim from a local election candidate who says that housing estates in West Cork have been neglected by Cork County Council.

Labour Party candidate in the Skibbereen West Cork area says residents have taken a dim view of the lack of attention given to housing estates in West Cork.

Nevin said that the Council’s policy of withholding responsibility for estate roads and lighting, until Irish Water agrees to take charge of the wastewater treatment plants, is ‘absolute nonsense’.

It leaves many estates with crumbling roads and, in some cases, no public lighting, the candidate said.

‘In one Clonakilty estate, residents have resorted to climbing lighting poles and installing their own solar panels for illumination,’ she claimed. Nevin also claimed an elderly woman broke her hip in an estate without lighting.

‘These issues significantly impact residents’ quality of life, and the taking-in-charge policies of Irish Water and the County Council need to be revised.’

Nevin says a plan to take charge of 97 housing estates in the county is a long-overdue move from the Council to address decades of neglect but she said only six of the 65 estates in the Skibbereen local election area are included on the Council’s list.

Ms Nevin said that of 29 estates in Clonakilty/Shannonvale/Rosscarbery, only two are on the list.

In the Dunmanway/Ballineen/Enniskeane region, three out of 14 estates are included.

And in Skibbereen/Leap/Union Hall/Glandore, only one estate is part of the Council’s plan.

Nevin also highlighted several challenges to implementing the plan. ‘For instance, 24 of the 97 estates have wastewater treatment plants, which Irish Water currently refuses to take in charge.

‘While the Council claims to be in talks with Irish Water to reverse this stance, frustration with Irish Water’s intransigence remains widespread among elected representatives and Council officials,’ she said.